VIII

"Get up, Severus! Get up, I say!" James dragged Severus back up to his feet. He had closed his eyes only for a minute, refusing to witness the inevitable, and opened them to stumble in a darkened room. "I'm not done with you yet! There's one last thing I want to show you!"

"I don't want to see any more," Severus said stonily.

"Yeah, I bet you don't, but you have no choice," James said, pulling him forward. Slowly, Severus' eyes began to adjust to the light.

They appeared to be in some sort of cellar, Severus realized, and he had absolutely no idea where he was. Dim light pierced in from a hole in what seemed to be a trap door, while the air had an acrid smell to it, perhaps coming from the moldy volumes of books lining one side of the wall. They were thick books of the same title, Severus realized, and then realized they were some religious songbooks.

"We seem to be in the basement of some sort of church," Severus said. "I don't recall ever being here before."

"You were here last night, actually, just not in this particular room," James said. "We are below the remains of the Muggle town once known as Haven's Bluff that you and your 'friends' destroyed." Severus blinked.

"Why?"

"I just thought you'd like to meet the only two survivors of that attack, Severus. Over here," James said.

Severus walked over to see that what he had first mistaken as a bundle of old blankets seemed to be moving, and in the poor light, he could barely make out two small figures underneath them.

"This is Essie and Corey Willowby, sheep farmers. They were walking to the church to help set up the nativity when the attack struck. Fortunately…or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the girl has the gift of Sight, and they were able to get out of the way. The boy is a real magic talent too, although he has yet to really develop it," he explained, waving a hand and causing the blanket to slip.

The cool air around them made Corey awaken and he sat up, shivering.

"The boy looks to be old enough for Hogwarts, but I know I've never heard that name," Severus said.

"Overlooked, as is the girl. It seems to be their lot in life," James said with a shrug.

"Essie," Corey whispered, gently shaking her. "Essie, I think it's over. In fact, I think it's morning."

"Are you sure they're gone?" Essie whispered back. "I'm very cold."

"I know, me too. Let's go have a look about," Corey said.

"I'm not sure I want to. I'm not sure you do either," Essie said.

"We can't just hide in this basement until we either freeze to death or starve to death, no matter what's up there," Corey reasoned, getting to his feet. "I'm sure someone will be looking for us."

"Nobody's looking for them," James confided to Severus as they headed for the ladder. "Everyone they knew is dead, and the Ministry hasn't managed to even get as far as this town yet."

"What do you mean they haven't gotten to this town yet?" Severus said with alarm. "They were informed right after it happened…"

"This was the smallest town of the ones that got hit last night, Severus, they had to prioritize. This bluff is remote enough that nobody outside of this town is likely to even realize anything is wrong for hours," James explained calmly as Severus scrambled up the ladder after them.

But as he reached the top, he stopped short, for the two children had numbly stepped over the corpses in the church and stood looking at their town, which except for a couple of fire-gutted brick houses had been completely reduced to cinders.

"Dad?" Essie whispered after they had stood in silence for some time. "Charlie? Mummy? Mummy!"

"Essie, wait!" Corey said as she took off running, having to sprint to catch up with his sister. A new-fallen snow caused the ground to be slippery at best, but that was compounded by the fact that several corpses lay in front of their houses along the street. He finally caught up to her as she reached the farm house, sighing with relief when she saw it.

"The house looks all right!" she called out as Severus and James faded into the scene.

But Severus remembered this particular house, and already knew that things weren't all right. Corey, too, knew it wasn't, for the barn seemed to have been completely obliterated; parts of their flock were on both side of what was left of the fence, and Corey remembered that his brother and father had been working in the barn when they left.

As he got closer to the barn, he suddenly stopped as he noticed two charred forms among the cinders. He then heard his sister cry out and ran back to find her sitting on the porch crying.

"Mum?" Corey asked. Essie slowly shook her head and started to cry harder. Corey wrapped an arm around her. "We should try the telephone, call for help."

"I tried, it's dead…dead like everyone!" Essie said, shaking.

"Well, we can't stay here. We can't stay here, Essie, they might come back. Let's go check the old Pince place."

"What for? It's just an abandoned old house."

"No it's not, there's a witch living there," Corey said. "I saw her fly in on a broom one night with my own two eyes…"

"Corey, how could you? How could you make up stories with…with…"

"I'm not making up stories, not this time!" Corey promised her. "Come on, let's go over the field." But as they neared the lower wall, the two of them stopped short, because they saw that house too was turned into cinders.

"It's a dream. It's just a dream, and we're just going to wake up, and everything's going to be okay," Essie murmured. Corey gazed at her, then back at the house.

"Whoever could kill a witch must have had magic themselves," Corey said. "Even if the phones did work, I bet no one would believe us if we told them the truth."

"Corey, what are we going to do? What are we going to do if…if we can't stay home?"

"We'll walk," Corey said at last. "We'll walk down the next road until we pass a car or get to the next town, whatever it takes. Come on, Essie. I'm not going to lose you too."

As the two of them headed for the road, James walked over and stood silently by Severus' side.

"Will they make it, James? Will they make it to the next town all right?"

"I guess only the future can tell, Severus, and my job is the present, not the future," James said. "But I am going to warn you now that it's the future you will see next, and it is as bleak as anything that has happened to you so far."

"The future is changeable, James. I'm not a believer of fate," Severus said.

"Really? Why are you helping my son, then?" James asked.

"I am simply doing whatever it takes," Severus snapped. "Whatever I must."

"Then why do you care if two freshly made orphans freeze to death or not, Severus? After all, saving them would take more effort than just doing what you 'have to do,'" James said icily. "I know, I know, you feel that your efforts under the hood are justified…the greater good will make it worth the effort, in your opinion, even if it costs you your soul. But if you keep up that little spy thing of yours at the expense of your friends, coworkers, and innocent bystanders without lifting a finger to help when you do have the power, you deserve to burn in Hell."

A burst of flames made Severus open his eyes, but it was only the fireplace in his room, kicking up sparks after perhaps hitting a sappy vein. Severus stared at the clock, which had not yet reached three, and laid back down again, staring at the ceiling.